One Direction
One Direction | |
|---|---|
 One Direction performing in Glasgow on their On the Road Again Tour, October 2015. From left to right: Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Harry Styles | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2010–2016 (on indefinite hiatus) |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | The X Factor finalists 2010 |
| Website | onedirectionmusic |
| Members | |
| Past members | |
One Direction (1D) are an English-Irish pop boy band based in London, composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson; former member Zayn Malik departed from the group in 2015. The group signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records after forming and finishing third in the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor in 2010. Propelled to global success by social media,[1][2][3] One Direction's five albums, Up All Night (2011), Take Me Home (2012), Midnight Memories (2013), Four (2014), and Made in the A.M. (2015), topped charts in most major markets, and generated hit singles including "What Makes You Beautiful", "Live While We're Young", "Best Song Ever", "Story of My Life" and "Drag Me Down".
The group has won nearly 200 awards including seven Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards (including Artist of the Year in 2014 and 2015), and 28 Teen Choice Awards. They have embarked on four world tours. In 2013, they earned an estimated $75 million, becoming the second highest earning celebrity under 30 according to Forbes.[4] The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) honoured them as the Global Recording Artist of 2013.[5] Forbes ranked them as the fourth highest-earning celebrities in the world in 2015,[6] and second in 2016.[7]
After the release of Four, One Direction became the first band in the US Billboard 200 history to have their first four albums debut at number one.[8] Their third album, Midnight Memories, was the best-selling album worldwide in 2013 with 4 million copies sold globally.[9] The band's Where We Are Tour, in support of Midnight Memories, was the highest-grossing concert tour in 2014, the highest-grossing tour by a vocal group in history, and the 15th highest-grossing concert tour of all time, grossing $290.2 million (unadjusted for inflation).[10] In 2014, Billboard named One Direction Artist of the Year.[11][12] The band went on hiatus in January 2016, allowing all members to pursue other projects.[13][14][15] As of 2017, the band has sold a total of 50 million records worldwide.[16]
Betty Boop
| Betty Boop | |
|---|---|
 A title card of one of the earliest Betty Boop cartoons | |
| First appearance | Dizzy Dishes (1930) |
| Created by | Max Fleischer, with Grim Natwick et al. |
| Voiced by |
|
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick.[4][5][6][7][8][9] She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in comic strips and mass merchandising.
A caricature of a Jazz Age flapper, Betty Boop was described in a 1934 court case as: "combin[ing] in appearance the childish with the sophisticated—a large round baby face with big eyes and a nose like a button, framed in a somewhat careful coiffure, with a very small body of which perhaps the leading characteristic is the most self-confident little bust imaginable".[10] Despite having been toned down in the mid-1930s as a result of the Hays Code to appear more demure, she became one of the best-known and popular cartoon characters in the world.
The Golden Girls
| The Golden Girls | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sitcom Comedy-drama |
| Created by | Susan Harris |
| Starring | Beatrice Arthur Betty White Rue McClanahan Estelle Getty |
| Theme music composer | Andrew Gold |
| Opening theme | "Thank You for Being a Friend" written by Andrew Gold sung by Cynthia Fee |
| Ending theme | "Thank You for Being a Friend" Instrumental |
| Composer(s) | George Tipton |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 180 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Susan Harris Paul Junger Witt Tony Thomas |
| Camera setup | Videotape Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions Touchstone Television[1] |
| Distributor | Buena Vista Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | 480i (4:3 SDTV) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | September 14, 1985 – May 9, 1992 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | The Golden Palace |
| Related shows | Empty Nest Nurses |
The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning seven seasons. The show stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty as four older women who share a home in Miami, Florida. It was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions, in association with Touchstone Television, and Paul Junger Witt. Tony Thomas and Harris served as the original executive producers.
The Golden Girls received critical acclaim throughout most of its run and won several awards including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series twice. It also won three Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.[2] Each of the four stars received an Emmy Award, making it one of only three sitcoms in the award's history to achieve this.[3][4][failed verification] The series also ranked among the top-10 highest-rated programs for six of its seven seasons.[5] In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Golden Girls number 54 on its list of the 60 Best Series of All Time.[6] In 2014, the Writers Guild of America placed the sitcom at number 69 in their list of the "101 Best Written TV Series of All Time".[7]
The Beatles
The Beatles | |
|---|---|
 The Beatles in February 1964; clockwise from top left: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Liverpool, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1960–1970 |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | www |
| Past members | |
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With a line-up comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they are regarded as the most influential band of all time.[1] The group were integral to the evolution of pop music into an art form and to the development of the counterculture of the 1960s.[2] Their sound, rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. They also pioneered recording techniques and explored music styles ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As they continued to draw influences from a variety of cultural sources, their musical and lyrical sophistication grew, and they came to be seen as embodying the era's socio-cultural movements.
Led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, initially with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass. The core trio of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, who had been together since 1958, went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them in 1962. Manager Brian Epstein moulded them into a professional act, and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their domestic success after their first hit, "Love Me Do", in late 1962. As their popularity grew into the intense fan frenzy dubbed "Beatlemania", the band acquired the nickname "the Fab Four", with Epstein, Martin and other members of the band's entourage sometimes given the informal title of "fifth Beatle".